According to the government, this new structure would not only improve the quality of life of its employees but will also cut down expenses on fuel and electricity

Since the time the current coalition government of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress came in to power in the state, they have made several decisions and did good work for the masses. Whether it was about the farmer loan wavier, new Education model for BMC schools or for that matter the recent announcement of five days working for government employees, it looks like all have borne results. By this the MVA government is leaving no stone unturned to do things for the betterment of the society.

When AV spoke to Vishwas Utagi, he said, “No, I don’t think this will affect the productivity because it’s a technological era and even if one is on a holiday, he can work 24*7. In that context five days working in a week will not affect at all. As five day working is a worldwide phenomenon and that is not a demand of workers, in fact this has come from the private sector itself and public sector is slowly following their path.”

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Talking about the five-day working, the government announced on February 12 that the five days work week for the government officers and employees will begin from February 29 by extending the 45 minutes from the last working hours. According to the government, this new structure would not only improve the quality of life of its employees but will also cut down expenses on fuel and electricity. Reportedly, the employees of the State government have been demanding the five-day work week since the last many years that would benefit nearly 20 lakh government officers and employees.

Siddhant Mohite President OYE – Organization for Youth and Elderly said, “In my opinion, the initiative taken by the Maha Vikas Aghadi Government, of providing only 5 working days according to the global standards, instead of 6 to the government employees is fine, but does the government have trackers in every department to trail daily activities, that will be audited from time to time. How will the government prove accountability without any digital tracking system, is my question.”

Earlier, the working hours for the government employee in Mumbai was from 9.45 am to 5.30 pm and from 10 am to 5.45 pm in the rest of Maharashtra including lunch time of 30 minutes. Also, the employee got holidays on every second and fourth Saturday but by the implementation of new rule the new work hours are – from 9.45 am to 6.15 pm including the lunch break for 30 minutes between 1 pm and 2 pm.

Talking about the same Shivani Lokhande observed, “According to me, this five days working system will not affect the productivity because this rule will give employees the chance to maintain a balance between proper work and personal life. Earlier since there was a six days rule, it stretched a person lot. After getting sufficient two days break from work, in the next week, employees will return fresh and be more focused to work. “

On one hand, the government thinking that giving two days off in a week will reduce the expenses such as electricity, water, diesel and petrol while on the other, government employees can spend time with their families which will boost their quality of life.

However, on the other hand the questions beg here that and which will later bother the people, if the government is giving too much holidays to their employees. And if this is how they will work then how can the government give guarantee for a good governance.

Go to calculate, people will be availing holidays as following:

Sundays : 52 days, Saturdays: 52 days, holidays: approximately 20 days. Additionally, they will avail 15 days casual leaves, 30 days EL (earned leaves), 20 days medical leaves and 15 days special leaves. Counting all these, it comes to 204 days. So the total days, the employees would work will be 365-204=161 days.

But all said and done, a glaring question hanging on the minds of the government is will the employees be able to finish their work in 161 days compared to the earlier 176 days?

Earlier, the total working days for government employees in Maharashtra were 288 days in a year while the total working hours per day were 7:15 hours excluding the 30-minute lunch time. Thus the total work hours in a month were 174 hours and in a year 2088 hours. Due to the five-day work week, the total work days in a year will be 204 while the working hours per month will be 176 and 2112 hours in a year.

While many have hailed with the decision, whereas many private sector employees are not happy with the announcement. Like it is said a coin has two sides one is pros and another is cons and the same scenario has taken place here.

Elaborating about the five-day week, Archana Sharma said, “Firstly, the sustainability about the project is important because if anything that you can implement for the interest of the citizens, it has to have sustainability and also have an implementing strategy. If the govt. is providing offs to its employees, then you have to think about the productivity which comes down automatically. Secondly, if you are not allowing people to work beyond their certain limit then you’re curbing his skill and talent.”

A general observation is that it would be difficult for people to finish the kind of job they have on their tables in so short a period. The government is of the view that with the lessoning of the working days, the productivity of the employees is bound to increase as they will return back to work with a fresh mind.

The holidays would definitely be beneficial for the employee and his/ her family, but what about the development measure? How will the economy of the state be revived? How will they scale the GDP on the right track?